SCUBA

One reason for going to Thailand and Vietnam this Christmas was diving. However with being sick/drunk so much, I only managed to squeeze in four dives.In Ko Tao, Thailand the water was really choppy (see 'Journey From Hell' entry) so dive sites were limited. We didn't really go much below 10 or 12 metres and a lot of the reef was dead. I did however at one point get immersed in a large school of Yellow-tail Baracuda which was cool. And there were thousands of beautiful multicoloured Christmas-tree Worms growing out of the coral (see picture). These really brightened up my day.Nha Trang in Vietnam was much much better. I went on a day trip to a place called Moon Island. It was a beautiful day for it. Slightly overcast, a bit of an undercurrent, but not too choppy. There were quite a few people on the boat, but all were in training　or just snorkling. So being the only qualified diver I got a Divemaster all to myself. Nuk, from Vietnam, is possibly the most energetic, fun man I have ever met. He was awesome. Despite my hangover he quickly got me perked up for my New Years Eve dives.He knew the island real well and was able to find some amazing life under the water. Nuk knew all the right caves to peak in to and in which parts of the coral the little fishies were hiding.

Again it was pretty shallow diving, but that allowed us to stay under for nearly an hour on each dive. We seen the bizzare Shrimp Fish which always swim with their bodies vertical instead of horizonal. We seen the stangely shaped, but aptly named Trumpet Fish, as well as huge starfish, beautiful soft and hard coral and more pipe-fish than I could've imagined. Everytime I'm under the water I ask myself 'Why am I not doing this more often?' It really is a great feeling.

Me posing behind some hard coral